Teachers Rights

WHY DON"T TEACHERS FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS?

By Stephen Wilson

 

 

It appears to puzzle many! It is like a inexplicable conundrum. Why do Russian school teachers put up with so much? They are constantly humiliated and insulted from all sides, are overworked, abused and obtain low pay. They are neither respected by the government, parents, pupils and the press. Why put up with all this? And why don't they at least fight back or go on strike? In actual fact the explanation is quite clear and does not require any search for profound causes.

 

Firstly, it never occurs to some people that a school teacher lacks 'a free choice' as to what work he can choose, especially if she works in a village where there is practically no alternative work available if say a local factory or plant has long closed down. So when those school teachers claim "Where can I go to find work except at school?" They are simply acknowledging the banal reality. It is not because they are 'inadequate' or 'losers' but because there is simply no alternative work available. 

The fact that around 91% of school teachers are women {in some surveys such as in Vladivostock 2018} and their average age is 50 makes them less attractive to potential employers. The idiotic proposals that teachers should marry rich people {Most males are not well off anyway} or go out and buy and sell on the local market {local people are so poor they don't have a disposable enough income to buy many goods } represent an insult to basic human intelligence.

 

Secondly, many of those school teachers are in debt. They have taken out credit to purchase cars, medicine and to send their children to colleges and institutes of further education. In some rural areas possessing a car is a necessity because there is no state transport available. They are also helping their children pay off their mortgages with the aid of their income, pension and credit. In a word they are making an immense sacrifice for the sake of their children. In deed they are much more resourceful and frugal with their money than the government that has the nerve to give them patronizing lectures on how to make ends meet.

 

Thirdly, many of them have reached such an age that it is difficult to change their profession. They are already used to working in school. They are set in their ways. Abiding by a set routine provides them with a sense of comfort and security. Some critics have compared working in a school to a swamp. It is almost impossible to struggle your way out of it once you have fallen in. And there are actually teachers who like their job despite the low pay and abysmal conditions. They simply attain job satisfaction. They get on well with the administration and like children.

 

Fourthly, many of these struggling teachers have never heard of the teachers trade Union 'Teacher'. Many teachers in parts of Russia are unaware that there even exists a trade union for teachers. Their experience of trade unions has not been reassuring. During the Soviet Union most trade unions were corrupt and a pillar of the establishment rather than genuinely interested in defending teachers. Some teachers who are aware remember how there were so many past strikes of school teachers in the 1990's to the present that did not seem to have achieved much in improving their status and pay. They think that going on strike is such a risk they could lose everything including their jobs. The game is not worth the candle. They are unaware of some of the significant achievements of the trade union Teacher, in terms of successfully fighting unfair dismissal cases and defeating measures to cut pay. Given the insecurity of work, it is understandable that so many school teachers view joining a union or embarking on a protest as a reckless risk. Perhaps economic conditions need to reach a very dire state before school teachers are ready to take to the barricades. Therefore we should never presume Russian school teachers will remain so passive. After all, you can only push people so far!